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Imus in at WELI; Kristafer heads to WDRC(New Haven Register (New Haven, CT) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Jan. 5--WELI radio host and Program Director Jerry Kristafer is exiting New Haven radio and cranky-funny Don Imus is entering. Clear Channel Broadcasting announced Friday that legendary talk-show host Imus, who was banished from radio for seven months after a now-infamous racial slur, will replace Kristafer as the morning voice on WELI-AM (960), a storied station in New Haven County that operates out of Radio Towers Park in Hamden. Kristafer is returning to WDRC-FM (102.9), the oldies (or "classic hits") station from which he was fired 10 years ago and where he'll be the host of the morning show as of Jan. 14. Kristafer, now entering his 40th year in radio, said WDRC officials called with an offer that amounts to a sizable pay increase, and he will do only the morning show. At WELI, he was also program director, overseeing Clear Channel's cuts in news staff and local hosts (besides him) and the addition of syndicated conservative voices Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity. "This other offer came along and I was extremely flattered," said Kristafer, 54. "At my age, it was an offer I couldn't refuse." The new Imus show is syndicated from the flagship station WABC-AM (770). But as Clear Channel official Steve Honeycomb points out, "The 770 signal is not the greatest in this area." Honeycomb, market manager for three Clear Channel stations in Hamden and five in Hartford, said he was "hit pretty hard by this (Kristafer's exit). It came up quickly." He said the previous home of Imus,WFAN-AM(660),wouldn't allow syndication in Connecticut since it sold ads here. "I really grew up with Imus. I always thought it was a strong show," said Honeycomb. "We'll do very well with the ratings, I think." Although he considers Imus "pretty much local" for this area, Honeycomb said he is searching for a local host for the afternoondrive slot, so the station doesn't lose more of its local flavor. And there will be local cut-ins in the Imus show for traffic, sports and weather. Kristafer will host his last week at WELI starting Monday, he said, and begin at WDRC the following week. The same day, Jan. 14, Imus will start on WELI. Kristafer said his WDRC show would be closer in tone to his first years there than the last 1 1/2 years, when he was ordered to talk less and play more music. WDRC's ratings have slid in the past 10 years. For WELI, "It's a different business than the station's heyday 15 or 20 years ago with Ron Rohmer," said Kristafer. "We youthened the demos ... and I'm very proud of the improvements and the lineup. Imus will only help them." As for the loss of local reporters and hosts at WELI, Kristafer said, "It's the same across the country. ... It's an evolving new media, sometimes good, sometimes bad. I think it's often more disruptive to the employees than the listeners, who may not see the changes as a bad thing." Kristafer, who said he grew up on a farm in the Pig's Eye area of southern New Jersey near Pennsville, credited his long career to hard work. He worked at WELI sister station WAVZ years before his first stint at WDRC. "I got into radio to get off the farm, but radio's harder work than people realize," he said. To see more of New Haven Register, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.nhregister.com. Copyright (c) 2008, New Haven Register, Conn. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |